Stayed on Paradise Island Bahamas -Atlantis The Reef
We are a couple (50’s) with no kids.
Accommodations: Great place to stay as they have studios, one and two bedrooms with kitchenettes which include fridge, microwave, two glass top burners, coffee maker (with coffee & creamers) sink and dishwasher. They supplied pans, dishes, cutlery/utensils as well as dish detergent, dish washing liquid, paper towels, salt and pepper grinders. This is a great set up if you want to save money by ordering from Foodstore2go.com. We ate breakfast in the room which saves money and time. When ordering from this local business you must place an order of at least $50. (Plus $9 delivery) I reviewed other comments and learned of this website. We placed the order and they came early. Just make sure you pick a delivery time you know will there or could be an additional charge. Food was fresh. There is a Starbucks downstairs. Other than that have to go to one of the other buildings to eat. We chose a studio and it was adequate for a couple. I suspect if kids are involved they must use the sofa as a pull out. (But check that out before booking) They all have balconies. We noticed the larger the unit the bigger the balcony. We paid extra to get an ocean view. Save on this as the other side seemed to be a view of the harbor or where the ships come in. Clean comfortable beds. Bathroom had twin sinks and a second TV! Shower stall separate from tub. The toilet even had some privacy behind frosted glass enclosure. When you wanted privacy or requested housekeeping there are buttons next to the door that you push. Red/do not disturb or green/make up room lights outside the room.
They have USA Today newspapers in the Transit Lounge –just outside the elevators.

NOTE: Get your wrist bands each day and leave on till you go to bed. Will need a new one each day. They do want to see “proof” you are a guest and where. Otherwise you will keep pulling out your room key. Plus if want to do the water attractions will need to have on anyway. You get them outside heading towards the pool where you get towels.

Pool/Beach: It was a little cool so stayed at the pool. The Reef and The Cove have their own pool and beach area that is only for these two buildings. Very quiet. They have a singer who sang live (unlike the other pools where you had a DJ blaring recorded American music). We always want to hear Island flair music. For service best to sit closest to the snack bar. One nice touch is the beach chairs come with comfy cushions and an awning to block some sun. We did venture to the pool nearest the Pyramid slide called Leap Of Faith. You drop steeply and go through a tube which is in the Shark Tank and come out into a shallow pool. That was fun but can’t say I will do it again! On the other side of the pyramid there are double slides where you can race. That was fun. You can even get in an inner tube and go through the Shark Tank. (Don’t worry you go through a clear tube so can see the sharks) Over in this area the pool was much more crowed but you could see the kids having a blast. (So were the adults) If slides are not for you there was a lazy river. Not so lazy but looked like fun. Since you cannot wear jewelry, glasses etc. there are lockers near the attractions where you put your stuff just ask for them –they are located in a hospitality center. We rented a small locker at $7. This was more than enough to put towels and a beach bag.

Getting Around: We used the complementary shuttles to get to other parts of the resort. Very easy. Just go to the outside entrance and ask -usually the wait is no more than 10 minutes if that. We went downtown and took a cab ($15) as we learned that to take a ferry over they wait till filled up before taking off. But if don’t mind waiting I hear the fair is $1.25 off peak. I believe there are local buses as well.

Restaurants: We tried
*Bimini Rd/Atlantis Marina Village –casual. Had the ribs-delish! Hubby had a salad with shrimp in it – that was just OK according to him. Had enough for leftovers which saved us from having to pay for dinner another night.
*Anthony’s – Across the street from the resort-casual. Had the lobster tails. They seemed to be cooked too long. Hubby had stuffed shrimp he seemed to like.
* Café Martinique/Atlantis Marina Village- ooh lala! Dress nice no need for gents to wear a jacket, just no shorts or jeans! I had the duck which they carved next to the table and salmon was the other dish. Very good. Great service BUT very expensive. Total cost with two glasses of wine, appetizers, entre no desert was with tip $165. Ouch! But hey you are on vacation.
*Fish Fry- Took a cab to this street lined with local restaurants. (fare $15 one way) lots of folks were at Twin Brothers as it apparently was seen on TV at one point. We ate at Oh Androus recommended by a local. Food was good.

Activities: Get the activities sheet for day so you know what’s happening. They show complementary movies at the theater . They have a comedy club that has a cover of I believe $20. Other activities available to keep you busy. Aura is a disco above the casino. If you are a guest not sure if the building mattered but women were free and men paid $20. They don’t take cash for that must use your room key. The weekend we were there they had the Giants and 49ners game showing in the theater. That’s where I left hubby while I played the slots.

Love this place. Definitely will be back!

The trip was a gift. What a great gift it turned out to be. The accommodations were great. There were six in our party, and we all thought that all of the bahamians we met were the most cordial,friendly people we have met in our travels.

We stayed 1/22-1/29 2012 at the reef 15th floor in the 2 bedroom, 3 bath suite ocean view. we were traveling with our 2.5 year old, a 2 month old and a nanny. While we found the overall atlantis property wonderful for children, we would never stay at the reef or the adjancent cove again. I will list the pros and cons as follows.

cons:
1. we requested a do not disturb on the phone lines d/t napping and sleep times of our children. on 3 instances calls continued to come through and on 3 mornings we received "wake up calls" at 7 am that we did not request. this was particularly infuriating when it woke up our infant and we had to call repeatedly to address the problem.

2. our first two days, we had no hot water. management did nothing to compensate despite complaining.

3. on the third day we lost all water pressure and a toilet clogged. this was fixed within 3 hours, but one had the feeling this was becoming a pattern of a poorly engineered building.

4. there is a gym in the reef, but you cannot use it. it is for the residents only. this is a time share/resident property primarily and you must walk to the gym which is just past the dolphin cay across from the waterpark. while we are not lazy people, I found this to be rather inconvenient and NOT advertised on the web site.

5. the pool is somewhat uninspiring compared to the other pools on site. while it was perfect for my todler who plays in the shallow end, there was not much going on. the pool is poorly staffed and we had to go to the pool restaurant to get our own food and drinks. it does not open until 11am and closes at 4:30.

6. there is no restaurant in the reef - just a starbucks. you must walk to the cove to mosiac or sea grass if you would like to have breakfast/lunch/dinner etc...

7. when we complained, they were little help and offered no compensation at all. one had the distinct feeling complaints are a fact of life for the staff there. we heard two other people complaining at the front desk for various maintenance issues (and saw a list for the people without hot water). our only relief came from the fact that at least we did not pay the 1.65m to own 90 days of the time share.

8. in the elevator I overheard a resident complaining to a staff member that "when there is a problem you all are terrific at follwoing up - but nothing really ever seems to get fixed, does it?"

9. it is a walk to the waterpark, spa, royal towers, etc... with small children I think we would have been happier at the royal towers.. or staying at the one and only without children. we had dinner there three nights and it was superb. I walked from the reef to the beach towers at the fartherst end of the resort and it is a 25 minute walk. it is a 10-15 min walk to the splashers pool (for kids).

10. our driver to the airport when hearing of our experience told us that the reef and the cove were constructed hastily as at the time there construction was planned harrods began planning a competing resort. they were lobbying the government to block contruction by harrods saying the island would not need two super large resorts. to force the issue, they built them as fast as they could and to some extent had to cut costs d/t the rush, the economy and the drain that their sister property in dubai puts upon them. he said there have been flooding/water problems at the cove as well. he also mentioned their layoffs - hence the paltry pool staff. Harrods was never built - thus they won for the time. now a chinese company is building a competing resort 2014 that is to be a direct competitor with the largest casino in the carribbean. it is on cable beach. you can see the beginnings of the work now.

other not so great things - wireless was 100+ for our stay, gym 50 for the week x 2 = 100, and then adding on the nanny to the room was an extra 300. we are more than willing to spend the money, but disliked the added on aspect to it in light of the problems. also, if you are dining at the ocean club, dont take the shuttle. it was so aggravating and gross right before a nice dinner. def reserve a car to take you or a taxi. it is well worth it. the shuttles are slow and crowded at night.

PROs:
1. the room floor plan is perfect for traveling with children and the kitchen, views, etc... are fantastic.

2. the beach is beautiful and very close.

3. we had an amazing time at dolphin cay with the sea lion and dolphin experience. my 2.5 year old LOVED it.

4. although Mosiac is in the cove, we thought this was one of the best buffets. we planned it for our last night as we are not big buffet people, but wished we would have eaten there more often. it was healthy and very well done.

5. the staff was friendly

in sum, I would save myself the aggravation and problems and stay at the royal towers... or not bring the kids and stay at the one and only. the reef is nothing but trouble.

We went to the Reef for our second baby moon. My husband, two year old and I. We got upgraded from a terrace studio to a studio with a view of the harbor which was nice. The room was clean, spacious, it was really helpful to have the little kitchenette especially because of our two year old. Everybody was courteous and helpful. We always came back to a clean room. The bathroom was really nice, we got a shower and a nice tub. The pool around the Reef tower was beautiful and our son had a lot of fun and the easy for me (5and a half months pregnant) to go in and out of the zero entry pool (i think they call it). The snack bar had some nice choices and we were close enough walk to the children's pool as well as Bobby Flay's Mesa grill and Mosaic which had delicious buffets for breakfast.
Quite pricey though but it was exactly what we needed. My husband did say our bed was uncomfortable, hard for me to say as at this stage in pregnancy i'm tossing and turning anyway!